MARL E-Newsletter April 2012

Our Horses Need Your Help
While dogs and cats make up the majority of the animals at our shelter, the number of unwanted, neglected, and abused horses has escalated over the past several years. Since January, we have received 20 horses here at the MARL shelter. Some were turned in by owners, we received some from animal control agencies and some were seized by law enforcement on neglect cases. People have been literally tying horses at our gate and riding them to our front door.

We have been overwhelmed with reports of neglected horses this year. The calls come in from all across Mississippi. We respond to as many of these calls as possible and rely on a large network of agencies across the state to help with calls out of our area. We work with animal welfare agencies, animal control, police and sheriff's departments across the state to help find relief for neglected and abused horses. MARL is the only shelter in the state that does this at this capacity.

It is very costly and time consuming to rehabilitate most of these horses. On average, if the horse is emaciated our vet care is about $200 from the start. This increases with farrier cost, dental work and other medical issues. The feed, hay, and supplements can range from $30 to $50 a week per horse. We also have truck and trailer maintenance as well as high fuel cost. As you can see, our horse program is a very costly endeavor.

We work closely with potential adopters to find the horse that fits their personality and experience. While these horses may need some extra time and attention, once in their new home they respond so quickly to love and care. Some of them have come from horrific conditions and never know love, care or what it means to eat on a regular basis until they were rescued and brought to MARL. If you are interested in adoption, please go to our website, www.msarl.org and complete the application and mail it in. We show horses by appointment once we receive your application.

Because of the expense or our horse program, we are always in need of feed, hay, halters and lead ropes. Of course, monetary donations to assist with vet and farrier care is our greatest need. If you would like to send a donation to help us continue our valuable work, please send to: MARL, 5221 Greenway Dr. Ext., Jackson, MS 39204 or visit our web site www.msarl.org and click on the Donate button.

FOOD!
We need YOUR help. We are in GREAT need of Dog Chow and Puppy Chow. We try to keep our animals on a diet of Purina or Pedigree. We appreciate any donation at all. You can drop off food at our shelter. If you can not bring us food, but would like to help please follow this link Donate Now. No amount is too small.

We cannot thank you enough for your support of MARL and the animals in our care. Without you, we could not provide for these helpless animals. Thank you.

MARL
Samantha Guillot
Charitable Contributions Coordinator
samanthag@msarl.org
www.msarl.org